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The Easiest Way to Use Wheat

This entry was posted on October 17, 2012 by beprepared.

As my family and I work toward building an emergency food supply, we’re starting with a three-month supply of food we already like to eat (especially the kids, who are notoriously picky eaters). After that, we plan to work toward a year supply of food storage basics.In the meantime, I thought I’d experiment with some long-term storage items. The item I’m most interested in is wheat. It super versatile and is a key ingredient in my favorite food—pizza. So, I obtained a small amount of whole wheat kernels to experiment with.

There I was with a about a pound of wheat and no idea what to do with it. I don’t have a wheat grinder, so making bread was out of the question. I’m not into wheatgrass. I was lost. Then I remembered a conversation I had recently with Don Pectol, one of the owners who has been with Emergency Essentials® since 1989 (see Don in our TV commercial here). He told me about the easiest way to incorporate wheat into one’s everyday diet.

Here’s what he said to do:

1- Boil some water.

2- Pour the water into a thermos (leave some space).

3- Add ¼ cup of whole wheat kernels.

4- Close the thermos lid (tightly).

5- Leave it overnight (about 8-12 hours)

6- Drain water

7- Add hydrated wheat to any food item or eat alone (Don said it takes on the flavor of
whatever you add it to).

I tried this method of thermos cooking and it was amazing. The prep time was about ten minutes, then I left it overnight (about ten hours). The next morning, I had some nice hot cereal waiting for me. I added some almond milk and stevia sweetener and it was delicious. My wife tried it and liked it. The little ones are another story. My daughter, age seven and our pickiest eater, refused to try the thermos-cooked wheat and I know better than to push her. My son, age 3 and a less-picky eater, tasted it and said, “Mmm,” then didn’t eat any more. Still, I’m going to keep trying, adding it to other foods without telling the kids.

By itself, the wheat has little taste, so it takes on the flavor of whatever you add it to. This means I can add it to foods to boost nutrition without my kids even noticing. Plus, it gets our family used to eating wheat. Since I can prepare wheat without much effort or energy, I can make it every day. I can even make it “on the trail,” only using the amount cooking fuel needed to bring a few cups of water to a boil. I could do the same thing in an emergency, which is a lot more comforting than the thought of grinding wheat into flour on a rock. Ok, I could use a hand-powered grain mill if I had one (which I don’t). Still, who knew a thermos was a survival tool?